ECB Studies Environmental Impact of Bank Notes

The European Central Bank (ECB) published an environmental footprint study of euro bank notes as a payment instrument. It shows that the average environmental footprint for payments with bank notes was 101 micro points (µPt) per euro area citizen in 2019. This is equivalent to driving a car for 8 km, or 0.01 percent of the total environmental impact of a European citizen’s annual consumption activities.

The study measures the potential environmental impact of all activities in a full cycle of euro bank notes – from raw material acquisition, manufacturing, distribution and circulation, to disposal by euro area national central banks (NCBs). It is based on the European Commission’s Product

Environmental Footprint methodology and builds on the work begun in the life cycle assessment of the first series of euro bank notes in 2004.

The main factors contributing to the environmental footprint of euro bank notes as a means of payment are the energy consumption of automated teller machines (ATMs) and transportation, followed by processing by NCBs, paper manufacturing and the authentication of bank notes in shops. The long lifespan of bank notes and the fact that they are used for many payments means that the impact of bank note production is lower than that of transportation and distribution.

Since 2004 the Eurosystem has made efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of euro bank notes, for example by using only 100 percent sustainable cotton and banning the disposal of bank note waste in landfill.

In addition, ATM manufacturers and banks have made progress in reducing the environmental impact of their machines. The study published today shows that improvements in the energy efficiency of ATMs contributed to a 35 percent decrease in their environmental footprint between 2004 and 2019.

Extensive research and development is being conducted to make future euro bank notes even more environmentally friendly at all stages of their life cycle.